MTDb › Best of › Action › 1990s
Best Action Movies of the 1990s
#1 The Matrix (1999) · ★ 8.3 · 28,776 votes · 2h 16m · action, science-fictionSet in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth…
#2 Léon: The Professional (1994) · ★ 8.3 · 16,480 votes · 1h 51m · action, drama, crimeLéon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling…
#3 Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) · ★ 8.3 · 1,970 votes · 1h 27m · action, fantasy, dramaSEELE orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can advance his own plans for the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji is pushed to the limits of h…
#4 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) · ★ 8.2 · 14,833 votes · 2h 17m · action, thriller, science-fictionTen years after the events of the original, a reprogrammed T-800 is sent back in time to protect young John Connor from the shape-shifting T-1000. Together with his mother Sarah, h…
#5 Bound by Honor (1993) · ★ 8.2 · 1,643 votes · 3h 10m · action, thriller, dramaBased on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three ar…
#6 Braveheart (1995) · ★ 7.9 · 11,460 votes · 2h 58m · action, drama, historyEnraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village…
#7 Heat (1995) · ★ 7.9 · 8,708 votes · 2h 50m · action, drama, crimeObsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each…
#8 Ghost in the Shell (1995) · ★ 7.9 · 3,930 votes · 1h 23m · action, science-fiction, animationIn the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a hi…
#9 Ninja Scroll (1993) · ★ 7.8 · 784 votes · 1h 34m · action, fantasy, adventureJubei is a masterless ninja who travels the land alone, lending his services to those with gold—or a worthy cause. His fearsome abilities have served him well, but a plot to overth…
#10 Fallen Angels (1995) · ★ 7.7 · 1,385 votes · 1h 38m · action, romance, crimeAn indifferent hitman, his infatuated business partner and an ex-convict search for love and meaning as their lives cross paths in Hong Kong.…
#11 Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997) · ★ 7.7 · 616 votes · 1h 29m · action, comedy, dramaTwo young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last…
#12 The Fifth Element (1997) · ★ 7.6 · 12,205 votes · 2h 6m · action, fantasy, adventureIn 2257, a taxi driver is unintentionally given the task of saving a young girl who is part of the key that will ensure the survival of humanity.…
#13 Tombstone (1993) · ★ 7.6 · 2,562 votes · 2h 10m · action, westernLegendary marshal Wyatt Earp, now a weary gunfighter, joins his brothers Morgan and Virgil to pursue their collective fortune in the thriving mining town of Tombstone. But Earp is…
#14 Malcolm X (1992) · ★ 7.6 · 2,003 votes · 3h 22m · action, drama, historyA tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then…
#15 Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (1995) · ★ 7.6 · 955 votes · 0h 55m · action, fantasy, science-fictionNot paying attention to his job, a young demon allows the evil cleansing machine to overflow and explode, turning the young demon into the infamous monster Janemba. Goku and Vegeta…
#16 Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku (1990) · ★ 7.6 · 778 votes · 0h 48m · action, fantasy, dramaBardock, Son Goku's father, is a low-ranking Saiyan soldier who was given the power to see into the future by the last remaining alien on a planet he just destroyed. He witnesses t…
#17 Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks (1993) · ★ 7.6 · 629 votes · 0h 48m · action, science-fiction, animationIt has been thirteen years since the Androids began their killing rampage and Son Gohan is the only person fighting back. He takes Bulma's son Trunks as a student and even gives hi…
#18 The Fugitive (1993) · ★ 7.5 · 4,969 votes · 2h 11m · action, thriller, dramaWrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death, Richard Kimble escapes from the law in an attempt to find the real killer and clear his name.…
#19 The Crow (1994) · ★ 7.5 · 4,675 votes · 1h 42m · action, fantasy, thrillerExactly one year after young rock guitarist Eric Draven and his fiancée are brutally killed by a ruthless gang of criminals, Draven, watched over by a hypnotic crow, returns from t…
#20 True Romance (1993) · ★ 7.5 · 3,184 votes · 1h 59m · action, romance, crimeClarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.…
#21 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) · ★ 7.5 · 1,306 votes · 1h 16m · action, adventure, dramaAndrea Beaumont leaves her father to return to Gotham, rekindling an old romance with Bruce Wayne. At the same time, a mysterious figure begins to hunt down Gotham's criminals, wro…
#22 The Legend of Drunken Master (1994) · ★ 7.5 · 1,129 votes · 1h 42m · action, comedyReturning home with his father after a shopping expedition, Wong Fei-Hong is unwittingly caught up in the battle between foreigners who wish to export ancient Chinese artifacts and…
#23 Hard Boiled (1992) · ★ 7.5 · 988 votes · 2h 6m · action, thriller, crimeA cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover…
#24 Sonatine (1993) · ★ 7.5 · 708 votes · 1h 34m · action, thriller, crimeMurakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two…
#25 Fist of Legend (1994) · ★ 7.5 · 617 votes · 1h 43m · actionChen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When he learns that his school students are harassed by some hooligans, he gears himself up to…
#26 The Hunt for Red October (1990) · ★ 7.4 · 3,777 votes · 2h 15m · action, adventure, thrillerA new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius. The American government thinks Ramius i…
#27 The Last of the Mohicans (1992) · ★ 7.4 · 3,562 votes · 1h 52m · action, adventure, romanceIn war-torn colonial America, in the midst of a bloody battle between British, the French and Native American allies, the aristocratic daughter of a British Colonel and her party a…
#28 Legends of the Fall (1994) · ★ 7.4 · 2,960 votes · 2h 13m · action, adventure, romanceIn early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit fami…
#29 Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) · ★ 7.3 · 6,764 votes · 2h 8m · action, thrillerNew York detective John McClane is back and kicking bad-guy butt in the third installment of this action-packed series, which finds him teaming with civilian Zeus Carver to prevent…
#30 Total Recall (1990) · ★ 7.3 · 6,718 votes · 1h 53m · action, adventure, science-fictionConstruction worker Douglas Quaid's obsession with the planet Mars leads him to visit Rekall, a virtual vacation company that manufactures memories. When something goes wrong durin…
#31 Run Lola Run (1998) · ★ 7.3 · 2,677 votes · 1h 20m · action, thriller, dramaLola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Ot…
#32 Star Trek: First Contact (1996) · ★ 7.3 · 2,041 votes · 1h 51m · action, adventure, thrillerThe Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew of the newly-commissioned USS E…
#33 Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993) · ★ 7.3 · 1,034 votes · 1h 10m · action, science-fiction, animationWhile the Saiyan Paragus persuades Vegeta to rule a new planet, King Kai alerts Goku of the South Galaxy's destruction by an unknown Super Saiyan.…
#34 Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon (1995) · ★ 7.3 · 810 votes · 0h 51m · action, science-fiction, animationThe Z Warriors discover an unopenable music box and are told to open it with the Dragon Balls. The contents turn out to be a warrior named Tapion who had sealed himself inside alon…
#35 Operation Condor (1991) · ★ 7.3 · 671 votes · 1h 47m · action, adventure, thrillerHired by a Spanish baron, Hong Kong treasure hunter Jackie, a.k.a. "Asian Hawk" and his entourage seek WWII Nazi gold buried in the Sahara Desert.…
#36 The Day of the Beast (1995) · ★ 7.3 · 640 votes · 1h 44m · action, comedy, thrillerWhen a rogue priest discovers the exact date the Antichrist will be born, he enlists a Death Metal record store clerk and a cheesy TV psychic for an urban spree of gore, sacrilege…
#37 Men in Black (1997) · ★ 7.2 · 15,230 votes · 1h 38m · action, comedy, adventureAfter a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth…
#38 Speed (1994) · ★ 7.2 · 7,087 votes · 1h 56m · action, adventure, thrillerTensions run high when a crazed bomber rigs a Los Angeles bus with a device that will kill everyone on board if the vehicle's speed dips below fifty miles per hour.…
#39 The Rock (1996) · ★ 7.2 · 5,353 votes · 2h 17m · action, adventure, thrillerWhen vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI…
#40 Point Break (1991) · ★ 7.2 · 4,160 votes · 2h 2m · action, thriller, crimeIn Los Angeles, a gang of bank robbers who call themselves The Ex-Presidents commit their crimes while wearing masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Johnson. Believing that the member…